Australia, New Worlds. (1 Viewer)

Travelling in July/August 2018, it's taken me quite a while to get this report together, but a fantastic four-week trip it was, a new continent for me and new birds and mammals at every turn, truly memorable.

So here it is...


INTRODUCTION

Focussing on the east coast, beginning in northern Queensland and later flying to south-east Queensland and thereafter to New South Wales, there were no particular avian targets, other than naturally Southern Cassowary, a selection of the bowerbirds and the two lyrebirds, but I also had great hopes to find a selection of the iconic Australian mammal fauna, top of the list Koala, Platypus, Echidna and Wombat.

Whilst visiting in the middle of the southern winter means a number of species are absent (such as Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher) and that Palearctic waders are also in much lower numbers, it does have the major advantage of being far better in terms of weather – near guaranteed sunshine on a daily basis and very agreeable temperatures for birding throughout the day (daytime temperatures around 25-30 C in the north, 20-25 C in the south). It does have to mentioned however that a number of inland sites in the south were cold at night – as low as minus 3 C in south-east Queensland).


Flying into Australia via Japan, my trip can be broken down into four sections:

1. Unscheduled Japan.

2. Northern Queensland.

3. South-east Queensland.

4. New South Wales.

PART ONE. Unscheduled Japan!

It is a long way from eastern Europe to Australia! Departing on 18 July with a planned route via Helsinki and Tokyo, we should have spent 18.5 hours in the air, plus a few in transit.

All well and good, except the nice airline decided to cancel the last leg, stranding us in Japan! And the new flight? Perhaps four or five days in the future! To add insult to injury, they had no intention of paying hotels. Some hours of argument later, I had managed to secure an early morning flight to Osaka two days later, with a later overnight flight from there to Cairns, our final destination. Yet more arguing finally got us hotels for our stay. A nice update though, after returning home a month later and engaging in legal debate, I managed to wrangle 1200 euro compensation for this delay, so all was well.

Thus plans for Australia on hold, three days in Japan on offer instead. A hot sweaty Japan it has to be said, the country sweltering under an extreme heatwave, temperatures topping 37 C and humidity hitting the roof! Birding the Narita area was never going to be productive in such heat, so opted for a focus on butterflies instead. A few minutes on google maps and I had my plan – the Narita area on the first day, coastal areas near Choshi on the second, then a coastal strip near Osaka airport on the third. With no fieldguide with me, all I would need to do would be to photograph everything, then identify online.

Narita area, 19 July.

A pretty good walking route right from the airport – a grassy track of some kilometres aside the small Tokyo River, then a zigzag through woodland patches to Narita town and finally a wander around Naritasan Park in Narita itself.

Dripping with sweat minutes after leaving the airport, but not too bad it turned out to be – abundant Pale Grass Blues and Small Coppers, a few Eastern Pale Clouded Yellows, a Common Grass Yellow too. Things got even better soon after – a cryptic Common Five-Ring, then a stunning Old World Swallowtail, followed by a pair of Common Gliders. Sure was tough going in the heat and humidity though, probably lack of sleep from the overnight flight not helping either.

Soon however I was looking at butterflies I couldn't even assign to family – a small pale butterfly that transpired to be an Angled Subbeam, another with vivid blue upperwings that was a Japanese Oakblue. Even more dramatic, some big beasties – vivid green and black butterflies that were Blue Triangles and, topping the lot, big monster-sized butterflies in the form of Big Mormons and Red Helens, both large tropical butterflies, some 10-15 cm across with lobed tails.

More sweating and more kilometres, slowly the tally of species was rising, the top being impressive Red Ring Skirts. I however was beginning to wain and by the time I got to the Naritasan Park, I was pretty exhausted. Stumbled around for a while, a couple of nice Red Helens drifting about, then called it a day and headed to the hotel.

Chosi area, 20 July.

Maps suggested some nice forest blocks next to the sea some 50 km east of Narita, an easy hop on the train. With a sea breeze, I reckoned on less humidity too, so it seemed an ideal location. Getting off the train at the small Inubu Station, first exploration however didn't prove particularly good – large numbers of Blue Triangles floating about, plus a handful of Pale Grass Blues, but otherwise precious little. Walking the other way however, I was soon in a mini paradise – a shrubby patch next to a pond kicking things off with the ladonides race of Holly Blue, Asian Comma and several Old World Swallowtails and Asian Swallowtails.
Leading off from here, a woodland edge trail that proved a most pleasant experience, butterflies all the way all. Among the species here - more Asian Commas, but even better big bold things in abundance, though all rarely settling and thus difficult to photograph - among this a cocktail of the larger Papilios, many Red Helens, several Big Mormons and a number of Long-tailed Spangles, exotic things all!

Adding Small White, Short-tailed Blue and Branded Swift, I thereafter wandered back to the Inubu just in time for a train back to Narita. Great Egrets, Black Kites and Eastern Spot-billed Ducks from the train, then headed back to the hotel, a pretty pleasing day.

Osaka Airport, 21 July.

Not a lot of options here, the airport itself on a small artificial island totally devoid of greenery. As I have done in the past, I took the train one stop and concentrated on Rinku Park, a small waterside slither of pines and mixed bushes. This did prove pretty good overall, lots of Old World Swallowtails and Asian Swallowtails, plus Chinese Peacock Swallowtail and my second Angled Sunbeam of the trip. Also found a flowering shrub that was proving to be a magnet for blues - quite a number of ladonides Holly Blues, several Pale Grass Blues and my only Long-tailed Blues of the trip. Also a bunch of birds here, White-eared Starlings, Blue Rock Thrushes, Brown-eared Bulbul etc.

Very nice for a locality just ten minutes from the airport! One week later it was destroyed by a typhoon!

So there it was, three unscheduled days in Japan over, 21 species of butterfly noted, quite a pleasant stop-over all things considered. In the evening, we boarded an overnight flight, next stop Australia.

Really looking forward to this!

Eeeee..... I'll be following this with interest Jos!!!!

It is a long way from eastern Europe to Australia!

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'tis even further from Scotland but tickets being booked this afternoon! :news:

Superb Fairywren top of my list!!!

delia todd said:

Eeeee..... I'll be following this with interest Jos!!!!



'tis even further from Scotland but tickets being booked this afternoon! :news:

Superb Fairywren top of my list!!!

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Superb Fairywren should be easy (depending on where you are headed of course!)

Thanks mjh. I should get them. Hans and Judy Beste promised I would see them in their garden LOL.

Not getting to Melbourne, sadly. My route (similar but slightly different to Jos's) is Brisbane, Toowoomba (with Bowra), Adelaide and Albany and a little later in the year.

Hence following this thread avidly. But don't let's hijack it

delia todd said:

Superb Fairywren top of my list!!!

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A taster for you ...

PART TWO - Northern Queensland.

Lands of the Southern Cassowary, Golden Bowerbird and Platypus. Beginning and ending in Cairns and incorporating the Daintree River, Mount Lewis, the Atherton Highlands, Paluma National Park and a trip out to the Great Barrier Reef, this two-week loop of the classic birding localities of the Wet Tropics was simply superb – a fantastic array of birds seen, including many not possible elsewhere in Australia.


22 July. Kuranda, Cattana Wetlands, Port Douglas & Daintree River.

Arrived in Australia at 5.00 am, picked up a rental car, ventured out into the warmth of the sub-tropics. Initial plans to spend a couple of days around Cairns had been scuppered by the Japan stopover, so instead we drove directly up to the forested slopes of Kuranda, one of the best localities for perhaps the most iconic bird of this coastline, the rare and mighty impressive Southern Cassowary.

Even allowing for a coffee stop in McDonald's, it was only a 20 minute drive, so it was still basically dark when I pulled in at a small siding on the Black Mountain Road, explosive calls of Eastern Whipbirds ricocheting from the forest, a myriad of other weird and wonderful calls flooding out from deep undergrowth. Left my companion to sleep a while in the car and, as the light slowly crept in, took my first birding steps on this new continent. And how magical it was, every single bird a new species for me – Eastern Whipbird my first bird, Little Shrike-thrush my second, diminutive Double-eyed Fig Parrots my third.

Pretty busy field guide in those first couple of hours, Black Butcherbird, Barred Cuckoo-shrike, Yellow-spotted Honey-eater, Varied Triller, a female Victoria's Riflebird, Lemon-bellied Flycatcher and so it went on. By about 9.30 a.m., with Australian bird list already burgeoning, thought it would be sociable to check on my companion back at the car. Arriving back at the car, 'Did you get your big bird?' she asked, of course referring to Southern Cassowary. Then rather gobsmacked, I listened to her account – she'd woken at 9.10 a.m., sat up and come face-to-face with a Southern Cassowary! Towering above the car bonnet, it had ambled right past the car and down the little siding that I'd parked on! Jeepers, probably the first person in history to score Southern Cassowary as their first bird in Australia!

Well that was pretty gripping, even more so as the days passed without me finding this key species. Popped into the nearby Barren Falls briefly, my first Australian Brush-turkeys wandering around, then dropped back down to the coastal plain and to Cattana Wetlands, a small series of pools that should also provide some nice birds.

Quite hot by now, and I found that a pool that often holds White-browed Crakes was basically dried up, but a nice wander followed – mostly common birds of the Wet Tropics, but nearly all new for me, Australian Darter, Orange-footed Scrubfowl, Spangled Drongo and Pied Butcherbird, plus my only Little Bronze Cuckoos of the trip and a Sacred Kingfisher. As my initial ideas for a couple of easy-going days in the Cairns area were now out of the window, it was time to head north to rendezvous with a boat cruise planned for the Daintree River the following morning. Paused a while at the rivermouth at Port Douglas, successfully adding a stunning pair of Beach Stone-Curlews against the mangroves, as well as Bush Stone-Curlews on a lawn in nearby residentia, then motored up to a campsite in Daintree village to put myself in position for next morning.

To a sun setting over the forest-clad hills, Radjah Shelduck on the river, White-breasted Wood-Swallows, Rainbow Lorikeets and Sulphur-crested Cockatoo overhead, so ended the first day in Australia, magical.

Coastal ...

Jos Stratford said:

A taster for you ...

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Thank you Jos.... he's gorgeous.

3Italianbirders said:

Really looking forward to this!

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Me too!

Beach stone curlew was probably the second best bird I saw in that part of the world, after your big bird of course! If I remember rightly I saw them at exactly the same site as yours too.

Looking forward to your mammal encounters on this one, I had a rather similar target list to yours!

I, too, am looking forward to this. Either I didn't realize or I forgot that you had never been to Australia before. It sounds like you weren't disappointed!

The class of your little friend just grows and grows!

23 July. Daintree River.

The Daintree River, here lurk massive Saltwater Crocodiles, plus oodles of birds including the highly desired Great-billed Heronns, Little Blue Kingfishers and Papuan Frogmouths. And so for one of the early highlights of the trip, dawn saw us on the Daintree jetty awaiting our river cruise into this paradise.

Heavy mist over the river as we departed, Australian Darter and Little Pied Cormorants roosting on overhanging snags, a bevy of passerines in bankside vegetation, not least several Large-billed Gerygones, a couple of Little Shrike-thrushes and both Leaden Flycatcher and Shining Flycatcher. As we drifted downstream, a flash of colour as the first of several Azure Kingfishers appeared, plus a Forest Kingfisher on branches above and a couple of Striated Herons. Soon the sun was breaking through, pretty serene on the river. An Eastern Water Dragon strutting the banks, Varied Triller, Figbirds and Yellow Orioles in big trees, flocks of Eastern Cattle Egrets passing over, an Eastern Osprey patrolling the river.

And then a real treat – in a tangle of branches, a mere metre above the water, two quite stunning Papuan Frogmouths. Gently floating in, we ended up perhaps three metres from these monster birds, the enormous broad bills sandwiched by glaring yellow eyes. An enjoyable hour or so more on the river failed to produce either Great-billed Heron or Little Kingfisher, but it did end on a high with a superb White-belled Sea Eagle sitting in a tree just above the jetty back at Daintree village.

Back on dry land, after Helmeted Friarbirds and some impressive butterflies in the village, I then ventured up Stuart Creek Road. A mosaic of habitats, including patches of riverine forest and plenty of rough pasture, oodles of birds – not least, a Pacific Baza in a tree, Rainbow Bee-eaters hawking the open areas, a flock of Australian Swiftlets, several Lemon-bellied Flycatchers and a couple of Spangled Drongos. In woodland at the road's end, I failed to find Lovely Fairy-wren, but I did see very one Fan-tailed Cuckoo, a couple of Spectacled Monarchs and my first macropod of the trip - an Agile Wallaby hopping along the roadside.

On route back, one Black-necked Stork on a sandbank and four super-size Saltwater Crocodiles. With high desires still to see Southern Cassowary, I crossed the Daintree River in the afternoon to explore the forests of Cape Tribulation. Reputed to be a top locality for Southern Cassowary, several trails we walked, but very little did we see ...and certainly nothing measuring a metre-and-a-half tall! Still rather gripped by the tale of one from the car the day before! For some reason, despite the pristine tropical forests and picture-perfect white sandy beaches, I didn't like Cape Tribulation, so just before dusk, we opted to exit and return for a second night at the campsite in Daintree village.

24 July. Daintree River & Kingfisher Park.

Another fine morning on Stuart Creek Road. Retracing my route, I soon encountered the Agile Wallaby still on the same roadside, plus White-breasted Woodswallows and Rainbow Bee-eaters hawking meadows and, new for the trip, Chestnut-breasted Mannikins and a Swamp Harrier. Up at road's end, still no Lovely Fairy-wren, but a nice bunch of species in the woodland - Fan-tailed Cuckoo again, plus Figbirds and four Yellow Orioles, a flock of 35 Topknot Pigeons and one Victoria's Riflebird, plus added extras including Brown Cuckoo-Dove, my first Pacific Emerald Dove of the trip and both Grey Fantail and Northern Fantail, the latter the only one I would see on this trip.

Soon got distracted by butterflies, or perhaps frustrated a better word - numerous flying, but precious few settling and most staying high in the canopy. But for sheer 'wow' factor, against a dark forest interior, the spectacular vivid blue flashes of an enormous fly-by Ulysses Swallowtail took some beating! Others here, the also spectacular New Guinea Birdwing, the small but quaint Large Green-banded Blue and the far more sombre Orange Bush-Brown. Meanwhile, back at the campsite, as I paused to photograph Helmeted Friarbirds, yet more weird and wonderful butterflies - Ulysses Swallowtail and New Guinea Birdwing again, but also the spectacular if somewhat strangely named, Varied Eggfly.

Then, via a supermarket and the first House Sparrows of the trip, it was a short drive to Julaten and the famous Kingfisher Park Lodge. Pretty basic set up in terms of accommodation, but a superb plot of land for birding - forest birds in abundance, but a pretty open mosaic of habitat with lots of forest edge, the result being it easy to actually see stuff.

From the veranda as we checked in, a glance across to feeders beyond a lawn - one hundred or so Chestnut-breasted Mannikins and Red-browed Finches zipping in, a few Bar-shouldered Doves and Peaceful Doves plodding below. Settled into the bunkhouse, then pottered around the campsite, a gaudy Yellow-breasted Boatbill the first treat, then a right bevy of honeyeaters - the confusion trio of Lewin's Honeyeater, Yellow-spotted Honeyeater and Graceful Honeyeater, plus a half dozen of the right quaint Macleay's Honeyeaters, along with four Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, four Black-chinned Honeyeaters and a couple of Dusky Honeyeaters.

Basically, birds everywhere, a well-placed drinking bowl attracted many of these honey-eaters in, as it did with other species, both Little Shrike-Thrush and Bower's Shrike-Thrush included. Almost 50 species here during the afternoon, open country opposite also attracting Laughing Kookaburra, flocks of Scaly-breasted and Rainbow Lorikeets and, roosting in a tree aside a river, two Papuan Frogmouths. In more forested area, Pale Yellow Robin, Grey-headed Robin and my third fantail species of the day, one Rufous Fantail.

Plan was to see Platypus at dusk - a little vantage point overlooking a stream at the end of the property supposedly pretty reliable. And so we sat there as it gradually got dark, studiously peering into a couple of backwaters, scanning every ripple with expectation. And darker and darker it got, a couple of Spectacled Monarchs put on a show, but as for Platypus, a big zilch. Or almost, just as got so dark that we could barely see anything, and unfortunately too far for my torch, something surfaced in the deep gloom - I think it was Platypus, but in reality it could have been anything!

Walking back, now completely dark, a couple of new mammals for me - first up, Northern Brown Bandicoot, then a Red-legged Pademelon. Also one Papuan Frogmouth hunting in the property's orchard.

A couple more...